Alone
by savingthestars
Summary: Sequel to Changes  Did Nikki get her happy-ever-after fairytale ending with Danny? Will another set of changes leave her relationship with Harry in jeapody once more?


_Hello :D_

Well, someone asked if I could write a sequel to my one-shot changes_. I've given it a go, so this is for you, **EmmaJ1996**, I hope you like it!  
It's not my greatest work ever, in fact I'm pretty sure it could be a lot better but I've had a bit of bad news and it seems to be taking its toll on my writing - but I can't stop because my writing is all I have at the moment to keep me sane._

Please review once you've read, it'd really make me smile..

Enjoy,  
Much love x  


**Alone: A Silent Witness One Shot **  
**(Sequel to Changes)**

An expensive looking microscope, under which bacteria swarmed a healthy cell like men around a pretty girl in a nightclub, and a sharp silver scalpel that glistened underneath the florescent lighting lay on her desk amongst the paperwork and empty coffee cups. There were text books and reference books scattered across it too along with a box of surgical gloves and several plastic evidence bags containing various items as well as swabs which, Nikki was sure, after further analysis would show that the victim in her most recent case had the blood of his killer all over his shirt and shoes.

She scanned the rest of the room; at the far end of the room a counter top was littered with vials, a specimen rack stood at one end. There were several filing cabinets containing papers that would one day possibly prove helpful with a case. A computer sat purring on her desk, another on Harry's. The one colour printer sat underneath his desk, whilst another black and white one was sat on a table close to the entrance of Leo's office, it was better than Harry's as it also had a scanner so Nikki could copy photographic evidence to include in her report. Wires and cables snaked across both desks before disappearing into little holes purposefully drilled in, which if either Harry or Nikki had chosen to unclutter their desks recently, would make it look much tidier than if the wires were left to wander wherever they liked.

Cream coloured blinds guarded the large window on the wall of Leo's office. Leo very rarely opened the blinds, not because he preferred the seclusion, but because it gave Harry and Nikki some privacy. Although Nikki knew that sometimes it was simply so that he could pretend he thought they were working rather than just throwing playful banter across the table and behaving in a generally child-like manner.

There was a small staff room with held a fridge and most importantly a kettle and coffee. It also held the cupboard which was stuffed full of lab coats for the numerous lab techs that spent time with them. Posters and warning signs adorned the walls screaming useless information at them. There was a sink in the room with it's own bar of baby pink soap with a notice above it reminding staff about the importance of washing their hands.

The glass wall the separated the office from a small waiting room was tinted slightly that you couldn't just peer inside and watch the pathologists as they worked. As you entered notice board hung on your right hand side, although the information on it was often useless and out of date.

Nikki had always loved working in the tiny, glassed in lab up until recently. She knew she didn't really have a right to complain, at least she still had a job whilst lots of the lab assistants had fallen under the knife due cuts to the budget, which also meant another year of trying to keep a lot of the furniture held together little more than duct tape and raw will. It was getting hard to match the high expectations people had when the university was constantly cutting the budget for the Lyell centre making it impossible to purchase the most up to date equipment to aid their work.

However Nikki knew she didn't really care about any of that. The main reason she had started to dread coming into work was because the embarrassment and the wave of shame that hit her whenever she was forced into a room with her two friends and colleagues. Neither of them knew yet just why her and Danny were no longer together. She hadn't even told them about the split, but she knew that they were smart enough to have figured out that things weren't running smoothly for her.

She had considered leaving, even getting as far as searching the Internet for job vacancies elsewhere. She didn't doubt that with her track record she could get a job somewhere else without a problem. However if she were to move, she knew she wouldn't be able to have the same relationship with anyone she worked alongside as she did with Harry and Leo.

They were like family to her. Together they'd faced a whole tirade of problems but they had always over come them. They were strong, they worked well together and it went without saying that there was nothing that they couldn't confide in the others about, or so she had thought.

How was she supposed to tell them that Danny had left her? Hoe was she supposed to explain why he'd run away? She knew they'd be disappointed in her if she told them. Leo would give her the look that told her she'd let him down, and Harry, he would tell her it was okay but then he'd start to avoid her. He wouldn't want to be lumbered with a friend like her.

It had taken months to repair the damage done to their friendship when she'd married Danny behind his back. They'd tried to pretend everything was okay, but there wasn't anyone in the lab who believed there charade. Everyone had seen that their friendship was always bordering something more, whenever they touched Nikki had felt a surge of electricity run through her body. Harry had always been the one person she could turn to after a rough day, he'd been the person whose shoulder she cried on, but when he'd left she'd had to find someone else. She'd tried to replace him with Danny.

Danny had been so much like Harry that at first Nikki had wanted to hate him. Over time though, they'd become friends, and then came the massive difference between Danny and Harry, Danny had asked her out. They'd gone on several dates before they'd slept together, but after that their relationship was sealed and two months later they were getting married.

She should have known it had happened to fast. It was too good; it was bound to all come crashing down.

She looked towards the opened door, which led into the conference room with its pull down screen and projector. It was the room where the addressed police officers, giving them the evidence they needed to catch and punish a murderer. The whiteboard in there was often covered in scrawled words and photographs of victims.

She got and wandered into the doorway, watching the figure at the far end of the table centred in the middle of the room. There was Harry, his attention was fixed on the task at hand, the small crease between his eyebrows somehow making him appear even more handsome than he already was. The thought of talking to him made her mouth feel dry and the nerves in the pit of her stomach start to leap about. She could just imagine his reaction to the piece of news the doctor had given her.

The whole day had gone by and she'd managed to avoid both Harry and Leo by being called out to a scene.

Upon arriving at the scene everything looked fairly straightforward, a man had jumped from a bridge into a river. Suicide. At least that would have been the easier and most obvious answer. However this was life, and life doesn't do straightforward.

They'd pulled him out lying on his chest. His face blue and contorted. Dead. There had been no point in trying to resuscitate him and so they'd left him as he was and phoned for her.

When she'd arrived she'd taken a look at the body before turning him over, the sight of several stab wounds had shocked the numerous police officers standing around, but not her. She always expected the worst, by doing so she never really had to go through disappointment and feel as though she had been let down by someone.

Now though she was sat at her desk finishing up a report on the post mortem of an elderly woman who'd died of natural causes. It was as she pressed the print button that Leo had poked his head out of his office and asked to speak to her. She'd nodded at him and made her way into the office with its mahogany desk and comfortable chairs.

Upon sitting down she realised that she was not alone in the room with Leo, Harry was sitting on the sofa in the corner.

"Nikki, is there something wrong?" Leo asked from his position perched on the edge of his desk.

She looked at him, right in the eye, and her resolve faltered. She couldn't hide it from them forever. They'd either be told by the coroner that she'd moved on, or in a few months time they'd be able to see the inevitable bump that protruded from underneath her shirt.

"I'm… I'm pregnant…" She stuttered her mouth suddenly incredibly dry.

Leo's eyes widened as did Harry's.

"Congratulations." Leo smiled at her.

It was too much. She couldn't just sit there and pretend it was all okay because it wasn't. He'd left her, run away from is wife and unborn child. He'd said he didn't want to be a father; he wasn't ready for it yet. He'd asked her to get rid of it, to have an abortion, but she'd refused.

Now she was alone.

"Nikki?" Concern was written across Leo's aged features. "What's wrong?"

She tried but failed to calm herself down. Suddenly strong arms weaved themselves around her, pulling her into a toned chest. Fingers ran through her hair, gently soothing her. She could smell aftershave, Harry's aftershave, it was the one she'd bought him for Christmas before he'd left and gone to America. Was he still wearing that?

"Nikki?" He asked placing two fingers under her chin and lifting her head up until her eyes met his.

She took a few deep shaky breaths.

"He left me." She rushed her words, stumbling over them as they left her lips, "He left me… I wouldn't get rid of the baby and now he's gone because he doesn't want it, and I do…" She began to sob again quietly. "I'm all alone and pregnant and now I don't know what I'm going to do!"

Harry rubbed her back in small circular motions. She leant into him seeking the comfort he seemed so eager to provide.

"You're never alone Niks" he muttered into her ear, "Leo's always here for you, and so am I. I promise you, I'll be here every step of the way."

She looked up at him. She didn't fail to notice the tender caring expression, the love in his eyes as they watched her reaction.

"Really?" She whispered.

"Really." He said.


End file.
